Refugio, West Bight – Sept 15 – 18, 2011

Thursday morning it was time to head to Refugio on the north end of Angel De La Guarda Island. We were traveling with ‘Just a Minute’ and we both wanted to circumnavigate this 40 mile long island. Not many boats go to the eastern side of the island as there are only a few anchorages and the winds can change quickly. But we would like to see it.

On the way up to Refugio we could see what looked like another boat near the point. As we got closer, we realized it was a large rock covered in bird guano called Roca Vela (Sail Rock) and it did look like a sail. The entrance to Refugio is just past this rock. It is tricky getting into this anchorage because of the shallow areas, reefs and submerged rocks, but it is worth it. This is a beautiful area that not many boats go to. There are great rock formations. One in the center of the bay is called ‘Fang Rock’. There is an arch off the end of one point and Laura thinks it looks like an elephant trunk. I think she’s right.

Fang Rock

An Elephant Trunk??

Sea Lions

The next morning the crew from Just a Minute and Rick went to the far side of Isla Mejia in the dinghies. They found a bunch of sea lions. Laura jumped in to snorkel with the babies and a large bull came up and yelled at her. She flew back into the dinghy!

The Crew from 'Just a Minute'

Refugio is a beautiful spot, but the no see ums have arrived so tomorrow we sail around the point for another spot.

Alcatraz – Sept. 14 – 15, 2011

Mid morning we left La Gringa for Isla Alcatraz, a 10 mile trip north, but still on the Baja mainland. A little bird landed on the boat and rode most of the way with us. We pulled into the bay and anchored in front of a white sand beach. 

The Beach at Alcatraz



Alcatraz Island

Rick with His Book

Rick has finally started to relax, he read his first book of the trip. Ted from Firefly loaned him a book called “Enchanted Vegabonds” about a couple sailing in the Sea of Cortez in the 30’s. I’ll read it next, before we meet them again and return it.

That little bird got really brave and hopped around the cockpit until Gizmo noticed it and chased it away.

Gizmo and the Bird

We had a quiet evening aboard and left the following morning for Refugio.

La Gringa – Sept 11 – 14, 2011

We pulled up anchor early to get across the bay to the village. We had to get fuel, groceries and an internet connection before we traveled north a few miles to La Gringa. Rick and Patrick took the jerry cans and hitched a ride with a friend of Patrick’s in his pick-up to the Pemex station outside of town. He also stopped at the liquor store so they could buy cases of beer. It’s a good thing they got a ride, it would be too heavy to carry these things.  The village is a small town with a few restaurants and stores. Laura, Jack and I found a restaurant with internet and checked e-mail and uploaded the blog. We didn’t see much of the village because we were trying to get to the Full Moon Party at La Gringa.

We left by 2:00 and anchored in La Gringa. We dinghy’ed over to the South America talk at 4:30 that Herme from ‘Iwa’ gave. We joined about 12 other dinghies and were there about 10 minutes when someone on one of the nearby boats yelled “Here comes the wind”. Everyone looked out and saw the Chubasco coming our way. All the dinghies left immediately for their boats and prepared for the winds. They blew for about an hour and a half at up to 35 knots. Right before dark, the wind stopped and a rainbow came out. It was a calm night.

The Rainbow during the Storm

During the Chubasco

Calm after the Storm

Monday was the Full Moon Party. There was a floaty party in the lagoon and most of the cruisers made great costumes. We also learned how to dig for treasures from the sea. They had judges for the floaties and the awards ceremony was after the pot luck that night on the beach. The weather cooperated and it was a great day and night.

Crusiers at the Floaty Party

More Costumes

Digging for Treasures for Dinner

Jack winning an Award

The next morning, I made a heavier snubber for the anchor. We were a little worried about ours breaking during the Chubasco. Rick went up the mast to change our wind indicator. It is nice to know where the wind is coming from and how strong it is, especially in a Chubasco. He took a few pictures of all the boats in the bay for the Full Moon Celebration. They will all be going in different directions after this. We plan to head further north tomorrow.

The New Snubber

A shot of the Bay from the Top of the Mast

Bahia de Los Angeles – Sept 10, 2011

Today we are moving into Bahia de Los Angeles and anchoring in front of the village. We plan to go ashore and find an internet connection. The clouds didn’t look good so we didn’t go to shore, instead we headed across the bay to La Mona to anchor. We enjoyed a fish dinner on ‘Just a Minute’ and stayed way too late. Tomorrow we’ll try to make it into the village.

Quemado - Sept 9 -10, 2011

7:00am we pulled up the anchor and motored carefully through the small opening out of Cala San Francisquito. In the bay, the water was calm, but as soon as we hit open water it was very rolly with white caps. The seas stayed this way for the next 45 miles. The good thing is the waves pushed us north and we made it in 8 hours. As we came into the anchorage at Quemado we saw 2 other boats and dolphins in the bay.

Quemado

I made crab cakes in the hot galley and they turned out pretty good. We watched the dolphins swim around the boat as we ate. It was a great show.

Dolphin Beside the Boat

Greeting us as we came into the bay

Cala San Francisquito – Sept 5 – 9, 2011

This is a perfect little anchorage, wave protection all around us and a little breeze to cool us off. A north wind picked up and was forecasted to blow for 3 days. This is a great place to hang out and wait for the wind to change so we can head north.

The Beach at Cala San Francisquito

We are spending our days on boat projects (yes, there are always boat projects!), swimming, playing Rummikub, Bocce Ball on the beach and watching the fish swim around the boat. Another catamaran came into the bay and joined us for a game of Bocce Ball. They have 2 cute little boys aboard, 2 and 5. It must be rough cruising with little ones, but they seem to love it.

Tons of fish at the bow of the boat

Jack and Pam on the beach getting ready for Bocce Ball

Jack and Rick Setting up the Court

Tonight we are going to attempt to make a pizza again. It is too hot in the boat, so we will try to cook it on the BBQ using the pizza stone. Results = it tasted OK, but we need practice. The crust was a little hard and we used too much sauce.



Pizza!!!



The north winds have died and it started blowing from the south, so tomorrow morning we are heading further north. We plan to stop at Ensenada El Quemado on our way to Bahia de Los Angeles.

Winds from the South, Ready to Go



Cala Mujeres – Sept 5, 2011

Monday morning after Jack’s school session, Just a Minute and Hotel California headed around the corner to Cala Mujeres, a little bay with great snorkeling. Just a Minutes dinghy engine was giving them some problems, so Rick went over to help. After a little work, Jack was back in business with his dinghy!

'Just a Minute' in Cala Mujeres

The snorkeling was good, but the hunters didn’t get any fish. Maybe next time. Laura and I swam to shore and walked the beach looking for shells. We found a few. This is a beautiful bay, but not much protection, so we are heading back to the inner harbor at San Francisquito where Just a Minute was anchored. We followed them in thru the shallow entrance and anchored in 14 feet.

The Beach at Cala Mujeres

San Francisquito – Sept 3-5, 2011

We had an east wind and sailed most of the 41 miles to San Francisquito in 8 hours. It was very choppy around the point, but calmed down as we entered the bay. We heard our name called over the radio. It was ‘Firefly’ anchored in the left side of the bay. We had expected to see them further north, but were excited to catch up with them so soon. We motored over and anchored next to them. That night, we had cocktails, fixed a little dinner and caught up with what they have been doing in the sea for the last 6 weeks.

Hotel California and Firefly at anchor

The next afternoon, ‘Just a Minute’ came into the bay with Partick, Laura, 13 year old Jack and Rudy, their dog aboard. They are on a catamaran with a low draft, so they motored right into the inner bay which looks very shallow, but is a beautiful place. They invited Firefly and us over for cocktail hour which lasted until after dark.

Patrick, Laura, Brenda, Pam and Rudy on 'Just a Minute'

Firefly was leaving to cross the sea to San Carlos the next morning, so we said our good-byes and made plans to meet again in Puerto Refugio in a few weeks.

San Francisquito

Punta Trinidad – Sept 2-3, 2011

With such a late start, we decide to stop at Punta Trinidad. Our cruising guide does not recommend this anchorage and other cruisers have been blown out of here during the nights. Patrick, from ‘Just a Minute’ had stopped here a few times and didn’t have a problem. We decide to stop for dinner and get some sleep, if the wind comes up during the night we will get up and head north.

Sunset

Rick with the Left Over Pizza

There was no wind when we arrived just before dark. We anchored, had some left over pizza and went to bed early, expecting to be woken by the wind during the night. We woke up with the sun about 7:00 after a good night’s sleep, ready to sail north to San Francisquito.

Leaving Trinidad at Sunrise

Leaving Santa Rosalia - Sept 1-2, 2001

Our last night in Santa Rosalia, we went into town for pizza with Steve and Susan from Kashmira. We bought a metro which is a meter long (39.6 inches) so we would have left overs to take on our passage. That night it rained hard for a few hours. In the morning, I had to make one last trip into town for cat food and found the town flooded and muddy. There were bull dozers removing the mud around the town square. It doesn’t rain very often here, so when it does the streets can’t handle the water. When I got back to the boat, my feet and shorts were covered in mud.

Getting out of the marina was a lot of work, we almost gave up. We were ready to cast off the lines at 10:00. Started the engine, turned on the instruments and were ready to go, but wait, no autopilot, no wind indicator, no depth. Shut off the engine to figure this out. Rick looked up the error code and it said there must be a bad connection. He remembered wires that may have been pulled while we installed the new exhaust hose. We tore the bed apart to climb under it. Went into a little cubby behind the bed and found the connection box. After a search of the wires, Rick decided which one looked loose. He re-connected it, checked it, and all the instruments were working. Great! It’s now noon and we are again, ready to go. Start the engine, cast off the lines, put the boat in reverse and hear a loud grinding sound. I shut off the engine, Rick ties up the boat and we try to figure out what could be wrong.  We restart it a few times and put it in and out of gear. No more grinding. We are hoping the gears just weren’t lined up right the first time. So, it is now 1:00 and we are leaving the slip and departing from Santa Rosalia after a 3 month stay. It’s time to spend a few months on the hook.

Leaving Santa Rosalia